Just one of those days...

[Toolslinger]

So, I'm still cleaning up the farm from the chaos my father left... I'm finally far enough in that I have an auctioneer coming by Monday to figure out how to do a September auction here...

I'm playing equipment shuffle trying to group sellables and stuff I'm keeping now that my uncle has arrived from his winter home in Florida. He co-owns most of the equipment, so I have to coordinate with him before selling anything. At any rate, in just trying to put a Craftsman tractor back in a sell area, I had to move the MF202. Well, that battery was dead... That's after I had to do a carb repair on the Craftsman, and oh, that battery was dead... So I moved on to an 8N that we're going to sell. That has an issue with the 3 point, and I wanted to just check that in case it's something simple... Well, of course, that battery was stone cold dead too...

We have a lot of battery chargers here... There's a reason I'm not planning on selling any of them at the auction...

Should have a chance at moving things today. Including the 444, which I should have checked the battery on...

[DavidBarkey]

Do not envy you , that is a tough enough deal when all goes well and to have too clear it with a family member first ugg. Hope thing go a little smoother today .

[JSinMO]

Playing the battery shuffle game is no fun. I hope you get thing worked out and have a good sale. I’m sure it will be a relief when it’s done.

[Toolslinger]

Well, Saturday was mostly better...

The 202 fired right off. That Continental engine amazes me every time. Gets started once or twice a year, and apart from battery, almost always kicks right over. (had to file points a year or two ago)

The 8N fired right off. That's got a freshly rebuild engine from 2014 that has like 10 hours on it since... Too bad the rest of the machine is a bit of a dog... At any rate, I found nothing visually wrong with the 3 point... When I pulled the lever, it went up, so I'm thinking that when the rebuild happened, the shop actually fixed the 3 point, and my father and uncle simply assumed it still didn't work. It wasn't a priority since they just pulled a finish mower with it, and never lifted it. Took it out to sit in daylight for a while, and it would not start again... So dumped the 4 gallons of basically varnish in the tank, cleaned the carb, and boosted the battery again, and it was fine. Will make sure the battery is topped off before the sale. Someone will get a potentially good machine if they are willing to fix a couple other things...

Finally got back to the Craftsman, and that fired right off.

Put a replacement carb on my Honda pressure washer... That fired right off. (bloody ethanol)

Put it all back in the barn... Decided I didn't want to press my luck with any more equipment yesterday...

Can't be all good... The fuel pump on the Gator is failing again... This time it will get an electric unit. I'm done with the damn vacuum pumps.

[JSinMO]

I’m glad you got them started. Trying to get a shed full of equipment started after sitting awhile can be daunting. Might be a good idea to start them up a day or two before the sale and just let them run awhile. I’m sure you’ll get better bids if you can hit the button and they start on sale day. I would imagine there would be some interest in your 8N with a fresh engine even if it does still need work.

[Toolslinger]

No question the N will sell. We'll never get what it cost to rebuild, but honestly, I need the barn space more than I'm concerned about the price...

Yes, I've got until Sept 23rd now to clean a whole bunch of carbs so things start reliably. At least reliably enough to show they start. Only have to start until Sept 24th... Auctioneer told me one of his guys will be able to get the Economy hit and miss running for the sale. I'd love to see that, but I'm dubious... It hasn't run since my folks bought it back in the early 70's (and it ran perfectly that day apparently). They had to take some parts off to squeeze it in a station wagon, and lost the timing, and then by the time I found info on getting the timing right, the magneto was shot from just sitting. If I tried to put that thing in my Subaru, I think it would just snap... This isn't a small hit and miss...

At least now I have a hard date, and no matter how much it will suck between now, and then, getting ready, it will be done by the end of that weekend...

[JSinMO]

That guy might get your Economy to run. A lot of those hit and miss fellas have a few tricks up there sleeve! If the coil isn’t completely broke down he might be able to work a little magic. It’d be cool to hear it run before the sale!

[Toolslinger]

It would be very nice... Obviously, I've never heard this one run, but it would be very nice for my uncle to hear that unit fire off again. The other hit and miss unit will be staying. It's part of a good size cement mixer that they used to do all the concrete on the property. And there's a lot of concrete... It's been decades for that one too, but I suspect it will fire off when I get back around to that.